Despite efforts of the Overseas Workers" Welfare Administration (OWWA) at giving out loans to deserving laid-off overseas Filipino workers, a lawmaker is urging the government to give scholarships to their children.

A switch to long-term and incremental spending from a "one-time" stimulus will be key for the Philippines to ride out the crisis. The government, said Albay governor Jose "Joey" C. Salceda, should shell out some P10 billion every month for the next three years, funding conditional cash transfers (CCTs), scholarships, and training programs, to complement infrastructure outlays as the economic crisis deepens. This would require sourcing P360 billion in funds and would be separate from the P330-billion fiscal stimulus planned by the government, Mr. Salceda said.

Instead of grilling Legacy Group owner Celso Delos Angeles, lawmakers at the hearing of the House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries on Tuesday questioned the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for failing to file charges against Delos Angeles despite calling the Legacy Group a "syndicate" in its earlier statement.

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines is backing up Judge Gabriel Ingles' decision ordering the police to release Pastor Leonardo Jastiva, who is accused of killing his own wife, stating that the warrantless arrest was illegal.

Ruling both 'darkest and shining moments' for judiciary The Supreme Court (SC) decision permanently barring retired Justice Ruben Reyes from holding public office and imposing a half a million peso penalty for breach of confidentiality and leakage of internal documents is both the High Court's darkest and shining moments. A Supreme Court investigating panel has found sufficient evidence pointing to retired Associate Justice Ruben Reyes as the one who leaked the unpromulgated decision on the citizenship case of Negros Oriental Rep. Jocelyn Limkaichong.

Major media organizations and outfits came together Tuesday and vowed to campaign against the passage of the Right of Reply, calling the measure an "act of terrorism against the media" and urging the public to join them in opposing what they said was a patent violation of the Constitution.

The Office of the Ombudsman knew of the alleged anomalies in the National Roads Improvement and Management Program Phase 1 (NRIMP-1) as early as three years ago, the World Bank told the Senate in a technical briefing Tuesday.

Executives of the World Bank hinted Tuesday they may stop lending to the Philippines if Philippine authorities do not act on its report on alleged bribery and collusion in its projects. A World Bank (WB) investigation on collusive practices of Filipino and foreign contractors on WB-funded projects has resulted in stricter procurement rules on all WB-assisted projects in the Philippines.

In response to accusations by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee over her alleged inaction on the $728-million Fertilizer Fund scam, Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez announced that her office will release its investigation report as early as this week or no later than the first week of March.

More than four months after the retired comptroller of the Philippine National Police (PNP) was arrested by customs officials in Moscow for carrying almost P7 million worth of undeclared currency with him, only around P615,000 of the money has been returned to the PNP's bank account. PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome said retired police general Eliseo dela Paz has returned only 10,000 of the 105,000 euros seized from him when he was apprehended at the Moscow airport in October last year. Bartolome said the PNP has given Dela Paz until February 28 to return the 95,000-euro balance or face civil charges, and that a demand letter was sent to the former comptroller early this week.

Following the statement of US Ambassador Kristie Kennedy that US veteran officials will find and go to sick and aging World War II veterans anywhere in the country, the representative of the United States Veterans Administration arrived in Cebu yesterday to distribute benefits of veterans here.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) could not be more candid when it admitted Tuesday that it may not be able to totally police its own ranks from engaging in electoral fraud should the automation of the 2010 synchronized national and local polls not push through.

Catholics are being called to repent for the sins that they have committed and promise they would become better Christians during today's observance of Ash Wednesday, which will mark the start of the Lenten season.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has ordered the strict monitoring of shipments of meat and poultry products in connection with the reported cases of foot and mouth and bird flu diseases in China, Belgium and Canada.

Declaring his willingness to visit Myanmar again, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the country's military government on Monday to follow up its recent prisoner release by freeing all political detainees and quickly resuming talks with the opposition without preconditions.

Hunk actor Piolo Pascual revealed that he had a past relationship with KC Concepcion. In an interview with SNN: Showbiz News Ngayon", Pascual said "yes," when asked if had courted Sharon Cuneta's eldest daughter. Concepcion revealed that her budding romantic affair with Pascual was cut short when she decided to finish her studies in Paris.

A study in nearly half a million older men and women bolsters evidence that diets rich in calcium may help protect against some cancers. The benefits were mostly associated with foods high in calcium, rather than calcium tablets.

Climatologists at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City have found that 2008 was the coolest year since 2000, but also was the ninth warmest year since continuous instrumental records were started in 1880.